Spring seat for adjustable razor



Jan. 24, 1967 L. K. KUHNL SPRING SEAT FOR ADJUSTABLE RAZOR 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. 17, 1966 Jan. 24, 1967 v KUHNL 3,299,509

SPRING SEAT FOR ADJUSTABLE RAZOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan 17, 1966 "2. m 43 I 4 W 9 2 k as M9 United States Patent C) 3,299,509 SPRING SEAT FOR ADJUSTABLE RAZOR Leopold K. Kuhnl, Stratford, Conn, assignor to Eversharp, Inc., Milford, Conn., a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 17, 1966, Ser. No. 521,099 2 Claims. (Cl. 30-605) This invention relates to adjustable safety razors in general and more specifically is directed to an adjustable safety razor design having an improved platform spring which forms a spring seat to co-operatewith movable cap sections to grip a razor blade adjacent the cutting edges. The improved platform spring design is mounted in a unique manner to permit a maximum amount of energy to be stored for a minimum amount of spring travel thereby to hold a razor blade with substantially uniform clamping force throughout the various adjusted positions.

The adjustable razor of the present invention includes a conventional guard member supported by a handle assembly. A spider assembly of known type pivotally supports a pair of cap sections, each of which have the opposite end engageable with the guard member whereby the caps will open and close in response to substantial relative movement between the spider assembly and guard member. Suitable means of any known type may be provided to shift the spider assembly a substantial amount to perform the opening and closing operations in a well known manner. This means, or if desired an additional means, may be provided to shift the spider assembly over short increments after the cap sections are closed to effect the desired change in the clearance between the razor blade and guard member promoting comfort during the shaving operation.

The platform spring of the present invention functions during the incremental shifting of the spider assembly co-acting with the cap sections to tension and grip the razor blade at opposite margins throughout all positions of adjustment. The clamping action on the razor blade by the spring and cap sections occurs very close to each of the cutting edges to provide good support which enhances the cutting function of the razor blade.

In the present invention, the platform spring is loosely mounted on the guard member through a pair of tabs which maintain it loosely assembled to the guard member at all times, yet permit flexing movement of the center or body portion of the spring in an upward direction in response to downwardly flexing of the spring leaves which are disposed on opposite sides of the body. The guard member is formed with fulcrum surfaces which function during spring flexure to elevate the center or body portion of the spring as the spring leaves are pressed downwardly over the fulcrum surfaces by the cap sections as they act against the razor blade. The novel manner in which the platform spring is mounted permits it to be readily manufactured and enhances the ease of assembly to the guard member since the close tolerances required with other forms of fastening such as riveting, are not necessary. Also, the spring support during incremental adjustment is improved to provide better gripping, especially in the intermediate stages of adjustment.

A better understanding of the salient features of the present invention may be had by consideration of the objects achieved and a detailed description of a representative embodiment.

It is a general object of thi invention to provide a new and improved adjustable safety razor.

'It is a more specific object of this invention to provide a new and improved adjustable safety razor having a novel platform spring means which is mounted in a novel manner on a guard member to provide good gripping of the razor blade with the cap sections during adjustment.

It is a still further object of thi invention to provide a new and improved platform spring co-operable with movable cap sections .to support a double edge razor blade adjacent the cutting edges, the platform spring being easily assembled and providing good energy storage for good blade clamping throughout the full range of adjustment.

Additional objects other than those stated will become apparent to the man skilled in the art who studies the drawings and reads the accompanying description.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an adjustable razor equipped with a platform spring of the present design;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged free body perspective view of the platform spring of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of the adjustable safety razor of the present invention assembled and with the cap sections opened and the razor blade omitted in order to show the positioning of the platform spring;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side elevational view of the razor of FIG. 1 with portions of the handle broken away, and the razor head in cross section with a razor blade inserted, and the adjusting knob on the handle seton reference 9;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the razor head similar to that of FIG. 4 with the handle omitted and the cap sections in the position assumed when the razor is in an intermediate adjustment of about 4 or 5;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 to illustrate the position assumed by the cap sections when the adjusting knob is set for minimum clearance;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged longitudinal cross sectional view taken generally along the lines 7--7 of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a bottom plan view of the razor head with the handle in cross section and illustrating the manner of mounting the platform spring of the present invention.

For convenience, the present invention will be described in conjunction with an adjusting means which per se does not form a part of the invention. It will become apparent that the design features and advantages of the present invention are applicable to use with razors having other forms of adjusting means and therefore it is not intended that the present application be limited to the preferred form of adjusting means of the type shown and described.

Referring to FIG. 1, the basic elements forming the safety razor are illustrated in an exploded perspective view at 10 including a spider and cap section assembly 11, a coil spring 12, and a handle and guard assembly 13 on which is mounted the platform spring of the present invention. Also included is an adjusting means which consists of an indicating collar 14, a cam track 15, a cam follower 16, adjusting knob 17, washer nut 18 and trim cap 19.

The spider and cap section assembly 11 includes a spider body 20 having downwardly projecting arms 21 and 22 which support transversely extending spider arms 23 and 24. Pivotally mounted on the transverse arms 23 and 24 on opposite sides of the spider body 20 are a pair of cap sections 25 and 26 of conventional design. Cap section 25 is provided with downwardly projecting arms 30 and 31 at opposite ends which co-operate with the guard member 37 to effect opening and closing of the cap sections in a known manner. Cap section 26 is provided with identical arms 32 and 33 which pivotally mount the same on the spider arms 23 and 24.

A spider stem 34 is joined to the central part of the spider body 20 and is adapted to be received in the handle sub-assembly with a sliding fit. A radial shoulder 35 is provided on the spider stem 34 to engage one end of the spring 12 and thereby continuously urge the spider upwardly since the opposite end engages a shoulder (not shown) in the handle.

The handle and guard sub-assembly 13 consists of a tublar handle 36 joined to a guard member 37 by means of a collar 38. As seen in the cross sectional views of FIGS. 4-8, the collar 33 is joined to the guard member 37 by conventional techniques including staking an end portion 40 of the collar 38 to overlap a center opening 41 formed in the guard member 37.

The guard member 37 includes guard bar portions 42 and 43 formed at opposite sides to guide the blade in its travel. Guide slots 44 and 45 are formed at opposite ends of the guard member 37 adjacent guard bar 42 to receive the arms 30 and 31 on the cap section 25. Similar guide slots 46 and 47 are provided adjacent guard bar 43 to guidingly receive the arms 32 and 33 on the cap sections 26. Openings t and 51! are provided adjacent the guard bars 42 and 43 respectively to permit the shaving product to flow through the underside of the guard as the razor is moved across the surface to be shaved.

Intermediate spider guide grooves 53 and 54 are formed at opposite ends of the guard member 37 and receive the downwardly projecting arms 21 and 22 respectively on the opposite ends of the main body 26 of the spider assembly 11 to guide it during axial shifting. A platform spring 52 is loosely mounted on the guard member 37, being positioned centrally between the guard bars 42 and 43 and guide grooves 53 and 54.

As best seen in the enlarged view of FIG. 2, the platform spring 52 includes blade engaging leaves 55 and 56 of inverted U-shaped cross section which are integral with acenter or body portion 57. An opening 5?; is formed in the body 57 and extends partially into each of the leaves 55 and 56 to permit the spider stem to pass through the platform spring. The center or body portion of the spring 57 together with the leaves 55 and 56 form a longitudinal groove 60 which intercepts the opening 58 and loosely accommodates the spider body 20.

As seen in FIGS. 7 and 8, downwardly projecting tabs 61 and 62 are formed at opposite ends of the groove 60 and extend downwardly into guide grooves 53 and 54 with the free ends of the tabs 61 and 62 folded beneath the guard member 37. The tabs 61 and 62 serve a retaining function, loosely holding the platform spring 52 to the guard member when the caps are open as shown in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 8, it may be observed that depending flanges 63 and 64 are formed integral with each of the spring leaves 55 and 56 respectively, to stiffen each at its outer margin. The depending flanges 63 and 64 project downwardly into openings 50 and 51 respectively, being free to move in response to changes in blade clamping force.

The assembled razor head consists of the spider assembly 11, guard member 37, cap sections 25 and 26, platform spring 52, and a razor blade 70, all of which are shown in cross section in FIGS. 4-6. The adjusting knob 17 in FIG. 4 has the indicator 71 aligned with reference 9 on the indicating collar 14. In this position of adjustment, the cam follower 16 is located on the cam track to provide for maximum blade clearance relative to the guard member 37. The details of the operation of the camrtype adjustment are specifically described in my copending application entitled Adjustable Razor, filed April 26, 1965, Serial No. 450,927, and the disclosure of that application is incorporated herein by reference.

The guard member 37 is provided with longitudinally extending fulcrum surfaces 73 and 74 adjacent the opening 50 while corresponding fulcrum surfaces 75 and 76 areformed adjacent the opening 51 on the guard member 37. The respective fulcrum surfaces are angulated relative to each other and are positioned to engage the underside of the spring leaves 55 and 56 between the intermediate center or body portion 57 and depending flanges 63 and 64 at the respective margins. Each spring leaf 55 and 56 has the outer edge engaging the razor blade 70 adjacent opposite cutting edges to urge it upwardly against the underside of the cap sections 25 and 26. When adjusted for maximum blade clearance as shown in FIG. 4, the spring leaves 55 and 56 have defiected downwardly a very slight amount and as a consequence the center or body portion 57 intermediate the leaves 55 and 56 is elevated only slightly, remaining very close to the bottom of the center well 72 formed in the guard member 37. While such deflection is slight, due to the unique action of the spring 52, the clamping force is of sufficient magnitude to press the opposite margins of the blade against the respective cap sections 25 and 26 and provide good blade stability during the shaving operation. At the position of maximum blade clearance, the fulcrum for each of the respective leaves is located on the longitudinal surfaces 74- and 75 respectively, ,closely adjacent the intersection with the side walls of the well 72.

As seen in FIG. 5, in the intermediate position of blade clearance adjustment, the center or body portion 57 of the spring 52 is elevated or raised upwardly in the center well 72 in response to downward adjustment of the cap sections which presses or loads the spring leaves 55 and 56 downwardly. FIG. 5 illustrates generally the relation of the spring leaves 55 and 56 to the associated fulcrum surfaces when the adjustment knob is in an intermediate adjustment of about 4 or 5. At such time the cutting edges of the razor blade 7% are more closely spaced relative to the guard member 37 than shown in FIG. 4. A part of the bias or clamping force of the spring leaves 55 and 56 against the razor blade 70 is provided by the center or body portion 57 tending to return to the bottom of the center well 72. The direction of this force is reversed by the action of the fulcrum surfaces to provide an upward clamping force by each of the leaves 55 and 56 against the razor blade 7 t In FIG. 6, the razor head is shown with the capsad-- justed to give minimum blade clearance relative to the guard member 37. At such time, the underside of the spring leaves 55 and 56 are in engagement with the outer edges of the fulcrum surfaces 73 and 76 respectively, and the center or body portion 57 of the spring 52 is flexed upwardly to its maximum height. At this time, the razor blade 70 has the cutting edges very closely spaced from the guard bars 42 and 43 respectively. The spring force developed is suflicient to hold the razor blade 70 tightly against the cap sections for maximum shavingcomfort.

It can be appreciated that a novel platform spring of the present invention provides good clamping force in conjunction with the cap sections to hold the razor blade throughout the entire range of adjustment from minimum clearance or reference 1 to maximum clearance or reference 9. The free or floating action of the spring permits maximum force storage for minimum travel since spring deflection is bi-directional due to the novel fulcrum surfaces.

permit the fulcrum point to roll outwardly as the blade clearance is reduced.

The novel construction of the platform spring and its method of mounting contributes to the spring operation described above and also permits fast and economical assembly of the spring to the guard member without necessitating complex fastening steps, fine tolerances in manufacture or special equipment for assembly. Accordingly, the design is suitable for commercial use and mass production methods. The material for the spring may be chosen from any known type which will provide the proper spring force characteristics.

Upon a consideration of the foregoing, it will become obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the invention embodied herein. Therefore, only such limitations should be imposed as are indicated by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

While these surfaces havebeen shownas angulated relative to each other, they may be arcuate to I I claim:

1. An adjustable safety razor comprising a handle supporting a guard member, a spider assembly including a spider stem and a spider body, said spider stern extending into said handle and co-operating with an adjustment means mounted on said handle, said adjustment means permitting incremental shifting of said spider assembly relative to said guard member to vary the clearance of a razor blade relative to said guard member, a pair of cap sections pivotally carried by said spider assembly and engageable with said guard member to effect opening and closing thereof in response to substantial shifting of said spider assembly relative to said guard member, a platform spring positioned between said guard member and said cap sections and being operative to urge opposite margins of said razor blade upwardly against said cap sections when they are in the closed position thereby to hold said razor blade so positioned during incremental adjusting of said cap sections and said razor blade relative to said guard member, said platform spring having razor blade engaging leaf portions disposed on opposite sides of said spider body, an intermediate body portion integrally joining said razor blade engaging leaf portions, each of said razor blade engaging leaf portions also engaging a longitudinally extending fulcrum means formed on said guard member, said fulcrum means being engaged by said leaf portions when a razor blade is clamped by said cap sections whereby downward clamping force applied to said leaf portions during adjusting of the razor blade clearance will operate to apply upwardly directed forces to said intermediate spring body portion, and tab means loosely holding said platform spring located on said guard member to permit free upward movement of said intermediate spring body portion during incremental movement of said spider stem.

2. The adjustable safety razor of claim 1 wherein said guard member is provided with longitudinally spaced guide slots receiving a part of said spider body, and said tab means mounting said platform spring comprises a pair of integral tabs on said intermediate body portion projecting into said longitudinally spaced guide slots and having end portions thereof folded beneath said guard member to join said platform spring loosely to said guard member whereby said intermediate body portion is free to flex.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,439,902 12/1922 Kohn 30-73 1,526,173 2/1925 Newman 3073 2,312,503 3/ 1943 Testi 3072 2,325,794 8/1943 OMealey 3071 3,038,254 6/1962 Scheminger 3060.5 3,209,454 10/1965 Nissen 30--60.5 X

FOREIGN PATENTS 541,751 6/1957 Canada.

774,749 9/ 1934 France.

399,692 10/1933 Great Britain.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

MYRON C. KRUSE, Examiner. 

1. AN ADJUSTABLE SAFETY RAZOR COMPRISING A HANDLE SUPPORTING A GUARD MEMBER, A SPIDER ASSEMBLY INCLUDING A SPIDER STEM AND A SPIDER BODY, SAID SPIDER STEM EXTENDING INTO SAID HANDLE AND CO-OPERATING WITH AN ADJUSTMENT MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID HANDLE, SAID ADJUSTMENT MEANS PERMITTING INCREMENTAL SHIFTING OF SAID SPIDER ASSEMBLY RELATIVE TO SAID GUARD MEMBER TO VARY THE CLEARANCE OF A RAZOR BLADE RELATIVE TO SAID GUARD MEMBER, A PAIR OF CAP SECTIONS PIVOTALLY CARRIED BY SAID SPIDER ASSEMBLY AND ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID GUARD MEMBER TO EFFECT OPENING AND CLOSING THEREOF IN RESPONSE TO SUBSTANTIAL SHIFTING OF SAID SPIDER ASSEMBLY RELATIVE TO SAID GUARD MEMBER, OF SAID SPIDER ASSEMBLY RELATIVE TO SAID GUARD MEMBER AND SAID CAP SECTIONS BETWEEN SAID GUARD URGE OPPOSITE MARGINS OF SAID RAZOR BLADE UPWARDLY AGAINST SAID CAP SECTIONS WHEN THEY ARE IN THE CLOSED POSITION THEREBY TO HOLD SAID RAZOR BLADE SO POSITIONED DURING INCREMENTAL ADJUSTING OF SAID CAP SECTIONS AND SAID RAZOR BLADE RELATIVE TO SAID GUARD MEMBER, SAID PLATFORM 